Tag Archives: Men’s Health Magazine

Justin Theroux seems to have figured out how to engineer his life so that he enjoys it more often than he doesn’t. So work is rewarding more than it is soul-crushing. Remember, the guy’s 46—he’s been around a few blocks.

Let’s start with range. It’s his professional hallmark. Actor, writer, producer. He played a douchey director for David Lynch in Mulholland Drive, a psycho with a six-pack in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, and Evil DJ in the Zoolander films. (He wrote the second one.) He also joined the screenwriter ranks with Tropic Thunder, Iron Man 2, and Rock of Ages. The “full retard” speech in Tropic is all his. More recently, he’s gone heavy, headlining HBO’s The Leftovers for three seasons and taking parts in The Girl on the Train and the underrated Netflix flick Mute. (The sick-o-meter goes to 11 in the latter role.)

In the early ’90s, after graduating from Bennington College with a drama and visual-arts degree, he became that stereotypical young N.Y.C. artist bouncing between acting jobs and painting murals in nightclubs, then expanding into bitsy film roles and, eventually, bigger gigs.

In those younger days, though, he felt the pain of things not going the way or at the pace he wanted. “When I was in my early 20s, I was impatient,” he says. “Always wanting things to happen the way I wanted them to happen. And that has gone away. Not completely—because there are definitely things I want to happen in the time I want them to happen. But I don’t lose sleep over things anymore the same way I used to.”

Aside from work, Theroux fills out his life with some genuine loves: motorcycles and dogs. If you ask him about his favorite bike, he rattles off a complete paragraph in one breath. He’s also partial to pit bulls—he is taking custody of a new rescue later in the week. “Dogs do drive you crazy,” he says. “It’s like having a toddler that’ll never speak, and toward the end of their life they get very sweet and tender and break your heart.”

In the meantime, may we all push ourselves to a point where we can say something like this: “There’s nothing I’m dying to do. Nothing gnawing at me.” Then Theroux laughs. “There are things I know I will do. I just don’t know what they are yet.”

On Westworld, he’s an android cowboy with a mysterious past. But there’s nothing robotic about James Marsden, a thoughtful guy who doesn’t shy from emotion.

Do Westworld robots cry real tears? That’d be a question for the bloggers and the Redditors who obsess over the hit HBO science-fiction mindbender. But right now, on a weekday morning in the Santa Monica Mountains, Teddy Flood is welling up.

James Marsden, the actor who plays Flood, has just shared some heartfelt thoughts about family and fatherhood, and his eyes are moist. “Sorry, I get emotional when I talk about this stuff,” he says.

It’s clear that an intelligent sense of humor has served Marsden well in his career, now at the quarter-century mark and humming along nicely. His Westworld character—a seemingly good guy with a secret — has “died” several times at the malevolent bemusement park where his robot “lives.” He’ll die some more, no doubt. He may or may not end up with Dolores, and his past could remain a mystery for several seasons if the popularity of the show continues.

“It makes us look at behavior, and we see some very dark behavior on this show,” Marsden says. “I have to wash it off afterward, and then physically I have to wash it off to get the blood out of my ears and body orifices. You just have to learn to roll with the craziness.”

Marsden feels safe knowing that when he tries, even if he fails, the effort is still a kind of success. “I’m very proud and very lucky to be doing what I do. I want to move people. I love it when people stop me to say they love my work or thought I was funny, or that I made them cry. That’s always important to me. But if I couldn’t do this anymore, my happiness is knowing that I’m a fully realized person and my happiness isn’t dependent on being a success within Hollywood. I want to be able to step away and be fulfilled. There is so much more to life like giving love and being decent. I want to lead with my heart,” he says, pausing. “This is getting deep. I have to stop now. I’m getting too emotional.”

The Leftovers star Justin Theroux is featured in the November 2016 issue of Men’s Health UK.

From the digital issue:

His style says downtown New York biker: leather boots, skinny jeans, vintage T-shirt. “The only think that is unchangeable is I refuse to wear shorts,” says Justin Theroux. “I just don’t think it’s a good look on anybody,” he says. “It’s the same with flip-flops. I don’t think anyone should wear those things unless they’re in rehab, in hospital or on a beach. I just prefer jeans and boots.”

With the addition of a beard-the facial hair has not been the most welcome. “It’s driving me crazy,” he laughs, “because I actually love shaving. There’s something that feels good about shaving.” The beard is grown for the third and final series of The Leftovers. The show has found it’s groove and a dedicated audience. “The people who love the show are embracing that because there are existential questions in it that we ask all the time,” he says.

Regrets would seem to be few and far between for Justin Theroux. He may star in a show about the mysteries of life but he’s a man who’s cracked the code to living a happy one. “If I’ve learned anything it’s to do what I want based on my taste. Usually I enjoy myself. It’s simple advice, do what makes you happy. But I’ve been very successful, at least on a happiness level.”

Bouncing on the balls of his feet, Idris Elba fires off rapid jabs and a left-right combination, then pivots with elbows raised to unleash a barrage of knee kicks to the ribs of an imaginary foe.

It is powerful. It is violent. And it is graceful. The 6’2, 195-pound British actor has trained in kickboxing for a decade, and it shows.

“Shadowboxing is one of the best workouts you can do,” he says after he catches his breath. “You don’t need any equipment, and it works every muscle. It’s what Nelson Mandela did many mornings in his jail cell.”

This is not casual trivia; it’s part of who Elba is. In his research to play Mandela in the 2013 film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, he spent a night in that very jail cell on South Africa’s Robben Island. Throughout his 43 years, Elba has absorbed traits of characters he plays and people he works with.

His approach to fitness has a very personal nature too. He wants to be able to kick ass if necessary.

“Some guys want to be toned or want to jog for miles,” he says, “but my ultimate fitness goal is to be fight-ready. If I step into the ring, could I go toe-to-toe for five rounds? That’s what I strive for. That’s what I consider fit. I want to know that if I’m being wrestled to the ground, I’ve got the strength to fight a man off. Kickboxing is rugged—it’s all core strength. But when you’re fight-ready, you feel like you can last forever.”

Learn more about Elba, and meet the other 17 Fittest Guys of 2015, in the December issue of Men’s Health, digitally available now.

Kevin Hart bursts through the door of the Outlaws Boxing Gym in advance of his interview for the March 2015 issue of Men’s Health, drops his bag on the cement floor, and starts undressing.

He doesn’t have time for things like locker rooms and privacy. He’d rather change into his workout clothes at the front door, which at this place—a tiny club in L.A.’s Tarzana neighborhood—is being guarded by a very confused shih tzu.

Boxers (the human kind) walk past Hart and do double takes. A few stop to say hello or give him a high five. None of them acknowledge that Hart is in his underwear.

“It’s about understanding your brain, you know?” he says of comedy. “Everything you do should be about elevating your brain. It’s not about doing things just to do them. Everything should have a purpose.”

It’s not clear what any of this has to do with Get Hard, a movie about a hedge fund millionaire (Will Ferrell) who hires the man who washes his car (Hart) to help him not get raped in prison. But Hart isn’t jumping off this train of thought. “I always want to show that I’m going up, not down,” he says. “I’m not progressing to go backward; I’m always going forward.”

One word that will never be used to describe Hart is “pensive.” He doesn’t take his time answering a question, carefully considering his words. He just starts talking, and somehow finds his way to a point. Which is not a criticism. A conversation with Hart is never boring, and he usually ends up saying something profoundly insightful.

“If you stop, or even if you slow down, you’re going to look up and realize that somebody has passed you,” Hart says of his career philosophy, which presumably also applies to his life in general.

“And that’s my fear,” he continues. “It’s the fear of being passed or caught up to, you know? When you get hot, you can choose to stay hot or you can say, ‘I’m going to take some time off now and relax.’ I don’t see the benefit of that. That’s how you get left behind.”

Real Husbands of Hollywood recently wrapped their third season on BET.